1st Step Chiropractic: A fighting chance

John had spent several thousand dollars over the years on blood pressure medication. He assumed the aches and pains were just part of getting older. He was told the car accident back in 1962 had caused some damage that was responsible for the weakness and numbness in his leg. John’s jaw popped when he ate, he had headaches several time a week, and he was wondering if God was punishing him for something. A friend at church told him about upper cervical corrective health care, and after worrying about it for a few weeks, John called and made an appointment.

Paul had never had any accidents, but assumed he hurt himself during a brave football maneuver back in 1948. Now, the only symptoms he had were from a case of shingles a year ago. His next-door neighbors referred Paul to their upper cervical doctor.

Ms. Jones had a work injury two years ago, and after that, things were never the same. She was able to retire on disability at least, but her company had to find and train someone else for her job. She didn’t walk much because it hurt too much. She stayed off the golf course now, and just sat most of the time watching TV. The shots in her back seemed to help a little, at least for several months. The other therapies her medical team recommended either didn’t help at all or didn’t help for long enough. She had tried chiropractic, but she didn’t like the rough handling and the cracking sounds her spine made during the treatments, so she quit. She was tired of it all. None of her doctors or friends told her upper cervical spinal correction was an option that might help.

Upper cervical care is a specialty chiropractic procedure. There are several hundred types of chiropractic procedures, but only six upper cervical specialties. The upper cervical spine is the area that includes your head and your neck. As you can imagine, there are a lot of reasons you need to be careful about what you do in that area. Let’s look at some.

Does your brain run everything in your body? Do all the nerves passing from the brain to the body travel through that area? Is it important that the blood flow to the brain continues uninterrupted? Do nerves control blood flow? Does the blood supply to the brain pass through the bones of the neck? Is it important that the drainage systems leaving the head work without restriction?

The NUCCA procedure (National Upper Cervical Chiropractic Association) developed so that doctors of chiropractic could more accurately identify and correct the misalignments that cause body breakdowns. Medical research using the strict NUCCA protocols is finding that it is effective in correcting the underlying communication problems that lead to health issues. With precise X-ray imaging before and after the adjustment, research shows upper cervical spinal corrections really do make a difference. Some people also like the fact you cannot feel the adjustment, so it is well-suited for sensitive people.

John became a patient, got his correction, and began feeling improvements in 40-year-old symptoms in just a few weeks. His blood pressure normalized over a three-month period, and his doctor took him off the blood pressure medications. He was grateful for his friend at church, he was grateful God had answered his prayers, and he was grateful for upper cervical health care.

Paul was examined thoroughly and was found to have none of the muscle spasms, postural distortions or short leg phenomenon associated with the upper cervical misalignment. He was referred to another health care practitioner for evaluation for the shingles pain.

Ms. Jones moves into another position every few minutes to alleviate the pain while sitting in front of her television.